Electric railway



'"3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

H.*W. SMITH.

BLEGTRIG RAILWAY. N0. 399,091. Patented Mar. 5, 1889.A

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H. W. SMITH.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY. A N0. 399,091. Patented Mar. 5, 1889.

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3 Sheets-Sheet. 3.

H. W. sMlTH. BLBGTMG RAILWAY. Y

Patented Mar'. 5, 1889.

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N. PiTERs, Pmummphu, wuningwngytc Jersey, have invented certain new and useful UNITED STATES Partnr rricn.

HARRY XV. SMITH, OF NEWARK, NEY JERSEY.

ELECTRC RAI LWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming-part of Letters Patent No. 399,091, dated March 5, 1889.

Application led Septembez' i4, 1888. Serial No. 285,400. No model.)

To olii whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY W. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New A Improvements in Electric Railways; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it apperta-ins to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part ot' this specification.

The oliijeetot' this inventionis to simplify the construction and reduce the cost of electric railways; to render the same more durable; to more perfectly prevent moisture from affecting the workin parts of the conducting media, so as to limit or obstruct the passage or iiow of electricity to the car or to the motor thereon; to enable a leak, should one occur in the conduit, to be more quickly and easily detected, and, generally, to secure a more perfect and eicient railway.

The invention consists in the improved electric railway and in the combinations and arrangements ot parts thereof, substantially as will be hereinafter set forth, and finally embodied in the clauses of the claim.

Referring to the accompanying' drawings, in which like letters et' reference indicate eorresponding parts in each oi' the several gures ot the three sheets, Figure 'l is a side olcvaf tion of a car arranged on an electric railway, (shown in central vertical longitudinal see-i tiem) showing the relation of said car to said i railway. lig. 2 is a plan of the said railway. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line ai, Fig. and Fig. lis a sectional view illustratingthe arrangement ot the ear and the rails with the conduit. Fi 5 and T are eentral longitudinal sections et the track or way, i showing modifications of construction, and v Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail section showing l the preferred construction. Fig. S is a sectional view illustrating in detail the construction of the contact-plates and the means oli' packing the saine. liig. fl is a plan of the f same, indicating certain openings. Figs. l0 l. and ll are enlarged sections through lines 'y and .2', respectively; and liig.r l2 illustra-tes a l modification of the arrangement ot' the magnets.

In said drawings, a indicates a car having an electric motor thereon, which latter may be of any usual or suitable construction.

b b indicate suitable rails for the wheels of said car, and c indicates a conduit, way, or longitudinal receptacle or passage for one or more cond uetin g-wires or equivalent conductors for the electric fluid by which the car is iinpelled. Said conduit, way, receptacle, or passage also serves a sealed or impervious tube or passage for dry air, by means of which 7 ing media and to iorm a chamber through which air may be forced. The said conduit is or may be incased in metal g, as in Fig. 10, to prevent the wood from absorbing moisture, and thus in time rotting, although it may be incased or coated with tar or other ilnyieri'ious material or matter.

At the top the chamber ol' the conduit is covered by aseries oli top plates or contactplates, 71. 71., which are separated from one another to secure insulation, and are of sufficient strength and durability to resist the weight and wear and tear oli ordinary street traiiic. The said plates serve to receive or engage a brush or contact shoe or device, '17,

iorminga part of or connected with an electric i'uotor, J, arranged in connection. with a car. The said top or covering plates, 71, are

made in short insulated sections, so that the ear will cover four or more of said sections, and only those which are covered or protected by the car will be in circuit, and thus there will be no danger of any transmission oit the current to horses or iersons traveling on the railway.

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lVithin the chamber formed beneath the plates arranged Aan electric conductor, 7.x', which consists, preferably, of a continuous strip of metal disposed at the bottom of said chamber. Between the said conductor and said plates is arranged a series of armatures, Z, adapted to be acted upon by magnets arranged on the under side of the car to connect the conductor 7a with the insulated plates h. Said armatures are preferably in the form of levers m, as in Fig. G, and are adapted to be raised at one vend and lowered at the opposite end, so that the connections are broken at two places simultaneously, to reduce the liability to produce a spark or to form an arc. Then the armature is in contact with the plates 7i, and at the bottom end the lever or brush or4 spring thereon is in contact with the conductor iiia position which is only attained when the car containing the magnets is over said plates and in a position to draw upon the armature-then the electric current .is closed from the battery or dynamo to the motor on the car, and the said car is propelled. The current leaving the motorg/ may be grounded or returned through a conductor in the Aconduit.

The armatures within the conduit may be simple, plates oistrips, as indicated in Figs. 5 and?, which are pivotcd so as to lie perinanently in contact with the conductor and against one another, or other modifications of construction maybe employed without departing from this invention.

To prevent more effectually the escape of air from the conduit, or to allow of the air being forced through the air chamber or passage, so as to take up moisture therefrom and thus keep the interior conduit practically dry, I preferably arrange a packing, n, of suitable material, between the plates and the grooved body of the conduit, as indicated in Figs. 8, 10, and 1l, said packing breaking joints with the series of plates and extending across the top of the chamber or passage. Openings n?, as indicated in Fig. 9, are provided where it is intended that the armatures shall engage the plates ln? to allow for such engagement.

Beneath the packing and the joints between the plates h3 may be arranged a suitable bridging to support the packing or the insulating material h between the plates.

At one end of the conduit maybe arranged the blower or exhauster d, for forcing the air through the chamber or passage. Other snitable means may be employed for the same purpose.

Should a leak occur, the saine may be detected by introducing an odoriferous substanee-such as oil of peppermint-into the chamber, the odorof which escapingthroiigh the leak will enable theworkmen to identify its position. When the armatures are, in coiiiiection with the lever, made of librito or wood or such like material, I may introduce a tube, o, as indicated in Fig. G, and through the same insert a. fulcriimal bar, lp, which may be round or pointed, to reduce friction.

scraping contact with the conductor and the plates.

I do not wish to limit myself to any form or kind ofconductoi', and various changes may be made in the other parts without departing from the invention.

The magnets on the-car, by means of which the armatures are attracted, may be fixed thereon, as in Fig. l, ormovable,as indicated yin Fig. l2.v In the latter case they may be attached to the belt working upon the wheeljournal or pulleys thereon, so as to' remain longer over the armatures, and thus be more effective in attracting them, thereby allowing' of a greater speed to the car.

In operation, as the car moves along the track, the armatures are successively attracted by the magnets. A circuit is thus continually kept closed, and the motor upon the car supplied with electricity, as will be understood.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new is l. The improved electrical railway having a sealed conduit provided with a conductor,

an air-impelling device, d, contact-plates, and

armatures for-connecting said conductor and contact-plates, combined substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

ICO

2. The improved electrical railway herein j described, combining therein a series of groo'ved stringers arranged to form a continuous conduit, a series of contact-plates arranged on the top of said stringers and insulated from one another, a series of armatures,

a conducting-wire arranged in the groove of said stringers, and a packing or filling for insulating said contact-plates and sealing the conduit, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. The improved electrical railway herein described,combinin g a lon gitiidinally-grooved string-er, a series of insulated plates covering said groove and packed or sealed, and forming, with said strin ger, a closed conduit, a conducting-wire arranged at the bottom of said groove, levers having armatures thereon arranged in said groove over said conducting- IIO wire, and a packing or iilling for sealing or closing the openings between said plates to provide an impervious passage in said Stringer, substantially as set forth.

4. The improved electric railway combiniiigtlierein stringers having a continuous passage therein open to allow air to be forced therethrough,v plates 7L 7i, secured on said strin ger, covering tliegroove or passage therein and insulated from one another, armatures,

ISO

and a conductor, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

5. In combination, in an electric railway,

7 The improved 'electric railway having a vconductor and a series oi' non-magnetic plates,

and armatures interposed therebetween and 15 adapted to connect the same when in Huencecl bya magnet of a eaigsubstantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony that l claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 13th day of 2o September, 1888.

HARRY W. SMITH.

Witnesses:

CHARLES H. PELL, E. L. SHERMAN. 

